Radius Housing teaching the importance of inclusive communities

Radius Housing, in partnership with Young Enterprise, has successfully delivered the first module of a new shared education programme to school children from St. John the Baptist and Taughmonagh Primary School in Belfast. Almost 90 Primary 5 pupils from the two schools came together to complete the first three structured learning modules as part of Radius’ community engagement programme linked to the Visteon site development.

The series of workshops and events will last for three years and involve a variety of hands-on activities which enable the participating children to better understand the relevance of their education to the workplace and in particular the development and housing sectors, as well as the wider communities in which they live.

The ‘Our Community’ learning module which has been delivered over a number of weeks and culminating in a joint workshop hosted by St. John the Baptist PS, focused on exploring the essential attributes of strong and inclusive communities and the importance of creating shared spaces which can be enjoyed by all. The participating children will continue to meet as they move through P6 and P7 to complete the “Our City” and “Our World” modules which cover topics such as commerce, local heritage, citizenship, diversity and cultural appreciation.

Delivery of the Young Enterprise Primary Programme forms part of the wider community outreach and engagement associated with Radius’ ambitious £20 million Visteon Regeneration Project which will see the transformation of the former Visteon car manufacturing plant into a mixed use development incorporating 244 new social and affordable homes, employment space, a purpose built community facility, linear park and three open space areas.

Speaking at the event, Bronagh O’Kane, Radius' Regeneration Manager, said “The projects we are undertaking with St. John the Baptist and Taughmonagh PS over the next two years offers the opportunity to use the development of new homes and community facilities on the Visteon site as a learning tool which connects the children with the world of industry and business. For Radius, it is important that we do more than simply build new homes, but that our work builds strong and stable communities. That is why working with these schools and Young Enterprise is such an important project.

“We look forward to working with the P5’s for the remainder of their time at primary school, during which time the Visteon project will evolve from being one of Belfast’s largest construction sites through to becoming a community which will create homes for in excess of 1,000 people.”

Carol Fitzsimons MBE, Young Enterprise Chief Executive, adds: "We have seen across our programmes in both primary and post primary that our project based learning approach allows young people with different and diverse backgrounds to learn to work together towards a common goal. We are extremely pleased to be working alongside Radius on this important project."

Delivery of the Young Enterprise Primary Programme forms part of the wider community outreach and engagement associated with Radius’ ambitious £20 million Visteon Regeneration Project which will see the transformation of the former Visteon car manufacturing plant into a mixed use development incorporating 244 new social and affordable homes, employment space, a purpose built community facility, linear park and three open space areas.